Calibration development for nutritional evaluation of Yam (Dioscorea sp.) using Near-Infrared Reflectance Spectrophotometry (NIRS)

AbstractThe aim of yam breeders is to produce many hybrids, which can form the basis of selecting quality nutritional traits and other characteristics using certain agronomic criteria. Chemical methods are employed to determine the main constituents of yam, which are time-consuming, expensive, and involve sample destruction. However, the constraints of lengthy analysis time and the cost needed to analyze thousands of these genotypes are major constraints to yam breeding in Nigeria. This study was undertaken to develop and validate calibration equations on the Near-Infrared Reflectance Spectrophotometer (NIRS) for determining chemical compositions of selected yam genotypes. Equations developed for moisture, ash, protein, crude fiber, and tannin showed high coefficients of determination (R2) for the calibration curve (0.87, 0.84, 0.83, 0.80, and 0.89, respectively) and high to medium coefficients of determination in cross-validation (0.80, 0.68, 0.69, 0.68, and 0.50). The standard errors of calibration (SEC...